The best cruise deals may be in your inbox

With so many cruise lines, travel agents, and websites competing for cruise vacation dollars, the shoppers who get the best deals are often the ones who do the most research. No matter how many sites you check, cruise-line emails can help you find even more deals.

Email promotions

Many of the major cruise lines allow you to register on their websites and choose to receive promotional emails. These emails can alert you to deals you might not be aware of otherwise.

Some cruise lines do not list all of their promotions on their websites but do send out special savings offers via email. Holland America, for example, rarely publishes discounted sailings on its website. But, the cruise line sends out several emails each month, alerting potential cruisers to sales on select itineraries. You might hear about a recent promotion through a travel agent, but if you want to stay on top of the best deals, you can elect to get them in your inbox.

Other cruise lines send emails with discounts that are only available to recipients of those emails. Recently, Princess offered a Mexico cruise discount only valid for Princess’ subscribers. The only way for cruisers to find out about that offer was through Princess’ email.

Finally, cruise lines also use emails to promote short sales. Carnival occasionally has one-day, three-day, or one-month sales. If you don’t happen to check Carnival’s website one week, you could miss out on a limited-time promotion. However, Carnival is very diligent about advertising these sales through emails both before and during the promotional period.

Other benefits

If you’re a past cruiser, you’re often automatically signed up to receive email newsletters from the line with which you sailed. Not only will you receive updates about new ships and programs, but you’ll find information tailored to your interests, based on the itineraries you’ve previously booked. These emails can be especially beneficial if you have a favorite line and are deciding which ships or destinations to try next.